Princess Charlotte and Prince George Were Bribed with Candy at the Royal Wedding

Of the many, many observations and questions we have had in the aftermath of the royal wedding, one was related to the impeccable precision with which the young children—charged as page boys and bridesmaids—executed their responsibilities. Jessica Mulroney’stwo seven-year-old sons managed to carry the train of Meghan Markle’s wedding dress into the chapel superbly, and the other eight (including Prince George and Princess Charlotte) similarly made it though the highly watched affair without incident.

And now we have some insight into how this was pulled off! A royal wedding guest who was fortuitously seated right behind George and Charlotte’s nanny, Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, told People: “I was sitting right in front of [Maria] and she was bribing the youngest bridesmaid with [TV show] Peppa Pig and Smarties, which was quite funny.” This same almost-suspiciously-observant guest noted that Charlotte “looked very happy and content to be there.” She continued, offering up further details about Charlotte’s behavior, “She was really sweet. There was one girl who wanted to go and she said, ‘No you can’t go yet. We have to wait until we are asked.’ She was really organized!”

Meanwhile, candy was also deployed by wedding photographer Alexi Lubomirski, who only had 25 minutes in which to get the official portraits taken.

“[The page boys and bridesmaids] were being bribed with one Smartie here, one Smartie there, so as soon as the kids came onto the set, I immediately just shouted out 'Who likes Smarties?’ and then everybody, hands up, smiles, even some adults put their hands up,” Lubomirski said in an interview with Reuters. “Some parents were trying to wrangle their children, other uncles and aunts were talking to their nephews and nieces. It was a family, that was essentially what it is.”

An important note for Americans before any parents out there might attempt a similar royals-patented Smarties-bribing maneuver. Smarties in the U.S. are actually referred to as Fizzers. “Smarties,” in the U.K., refer to M&M-esque “chocolate sweets in sugar shells.”